Since I entered college, I noticed the way material is taught is much different than high school. In the past, teachers threw out facts that I was expected to regurgitate in order to score a high grade on an exam. In college, I am given information and my professors expect me to be able to twist that knowledge and relate it to real world scenarios. My freshman year at URI was a wake up call to how academically different high school and college are. In high school, I was a strategic learner. I learned the tricks to the exams and was able to perfectly spit back all the facts that came my way, resulting in high test scores. In college, I hope to become more of a deep learner that way I can take what I learn and apply it within my daily life. Not only will that expanse my knowledge, but it will help me to make connections to ideas and thoughts from other areas of learning. I hope to be able to enhance my deep learning skills so that I can be successful within the environmental field.
Bain's research tells us that most students fall under strategic learners. He notes that deep learning goes beyond memorization and instead requires the learner to think about the topic and find other information that relates to it. From there, he or she draws information from the two in order to understand how the two topics are connected together. I have always had moments in high school where I was a deep learner, but I never thought much of it. I would be thinking about something I learned in AP Environmental Science that day and realize it sounds a lot like something else I learned about in..."AHA!" When the two ideas seem to fit together like puzzle pieces I cannot help but have that "oh that makes sense now" moment. In that moment, the world seems to make so much sense and I feel like I cracked the code to knowledge. I want to feel like that with everything I learn because for once, it feels like I was not just repeating facts back on a piece of paper. I was actually applying my knowledge to something greater than just my exam.
Unlike Cedric, I am taking rigorous courses that go much further beyond relaying information. I chose classes that would challenge me so that I am forced to think about what it is I'm learning. The courses Cedric chose to take in his freshman year are pass or fail classes. He does not receive a letter or number grade, he simply passes the class or fails it. In my own experience, pass or fail classes are seen as easy classes. They do not challenge the mind and students tend to skate through just to pass. They don't take the class seriously and often don't take the knowledge they are taught and relate it to broader ideas and topics. More challenging courses usually force you to think in a different way, opening the door for deeper learning.
College is the perfect time to switch your learning styles. Professors expect you to go beyond what the textbook says, so college already prepares you to become a deep learner. I have found that the more I connect ideas to a topic, the more interested in it I become. I am hoping to continue to have more "aha" moments as I continue my path through environmental science courses. I love being a wildlife major, but I have no idea how I want to take the knowledge I learn at URI and incorporate it into a career. I hope that lab opportunities, field experience, and internships will enable me to understand what I learned about in class on a different level. These opportunities enable me to apply that knowledge to every day situations and problems within the environment. It is one thing to read about it, but having the chance to be hands-on in the field offers a new door to deeper learning. It forces me to understand what I am doing and the theories that support it, rather than just repeating information back. The more I learn on a deeper level, the more connections I make between different areas within environmental science. I hope to find more ways to connect my passion for wildlife with my passion for teaching younger generations so that I can one day obtain a career that I love.
Bain's research tells us that most students fall under strategic learners. He notes that deep learning goes beyond memorization and instead requires the learner to think about the topic and find other information that relates to it. From there, he or she draws information from the two in order to understand how the two topics are connected together. I have always had moments in high school where I was a deep learner, but I never thought much of it. I would be thinking about something I learned in AP Environmental Science that day and realize it sounds a lot like something else I learned about in..."AHA!" When the two ideas seem to fit together like puzzle pieces I cannot help but have that "oh that makes sense now" moment. In that moment, the world seems to make so much sense and I feel like I cracked the code to knowledge. I want to feel like that with everything I learn because for once, it feels like I was not just repeating facts back on a piece of paper. I was actually applying my knowledge to something greater than just my exam.
Unlike Cedric, I am taking rigorous courses that go much further beyond relaying information. I chose classes that would challenge me so that I am forced to think about what it is I'm learning. The courses Cedric chose to take in his freshman year are pass or fail classes. He does not receive a letter or number grade, he simply passes the class or fails it. In my own experience, pass or fail classes are seen as easy classes. They do not challenge the mind and students tend to skate through just to pass. They don't take the class seriously and often don't take the knowledge they are taught and relate it to broader ideas and topics. More challenging courses usually force you to think in a different way, opening the door for deeper learning.
College is the perfect time to switch your learning styles. Professors expect you to go beyond what the textbook says, so college already prepares you to become a deep learner. I have found that the more I connect ideas to a topic, the more interested in it I become. I am hoping to continue to have more "aha" moments as I continue my path through environmental science courses. I love being a wildlife major, but I have no idea how I want to take the knowledge I learn at URI and incorporate it into a career. I hope that lab opportunities, field experience, and internships will enable me to understand what I learned about in class on a different level. These opportunities enable me to apply that knowledge to every day situations and problems within the environment. It is one thing to read about it, but having the chance to be hands-on in the field offers a new door to deeper learning. It forces me to understand what I am doing and the theories that support it, rather than just repeating information back. The more I learn on a deeper level, the more connections I make between different areas within environmental science. I hope to find more ways to connect my passion for wildlife with my passion for teaching younger generations so that I can one day obtain a career that I love.